


all we ever see of stars are their old photographs

by i_was_human



Category: Lost in Translation (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Angst, Hallucinations, M/M, No beta we die like mne, Non-Linear Narrative, Past Character Death, Short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:49:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26913169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_was_human/pseuds/i_was_human
Summary: Black ice,they said.A true accident... nothing could have been done... it was nobody's fault...And Daehyun, sweet, sweet, broken Daehyun, tipped his head and asked in a voice sopainfullybewildered, "what do you mean? They're right there!"
Relationships: Ahn Jaewon | Wyld/Kang Dongho | D.Min, Kim Daehyun/Lee Minsoo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	all we ever see of stars are their old photographs

"He's _right here_ , and you keep ignoring him!"

Minsoo bites his lip, but doesn't reply.

* * *

It hurts to watch, sometimes.

The way Daehyun laughs, the way he smiles, the way he tilts his head back just like he always has-

it _aches_.

And oh, it's a bit of a paradox, this, seeing him so happy when Minsoo's world has crumbled at his feet-

but it's better this way.

Better that he not know.

Daehyun laughs, a bright pealing noise that rings through the empty dorm, and Minsoo curls into his pillow and sobs.

* * *

_Black ice_ , they said. _A true accident... nothing could have been done... it was nobody's fault..._

And Daehyun, sweet, sweet, broken Daehyun, tipped his head and asked in a voice so _painfully_ bewildered, "what do you mean? They're right there!"

Minsoo stared at him, then, Dongho's broken phone in his lap and tears dripping off his chin, and couldn't find the heart to correct him.

He should've.

Should've corrected him then.

Should've pushed past his own grief, should've moved on to do _something_ , because Daehyun's slipping through his fingers, and all he can do is watch.

* * *

_"They're dead!"_ he screams at him one night over Jaewon's favorite dish, four plates on a table for two. "They're _dead_!"

And Daehyun looks at him, dark eyes cracked and shattered and pooling with something Minsoo can't quite identify, and he shakes his head, a tear scoring down his cheek.

"...why do you keep lying, hyung?"

 _It's not a lie_ , Minsoo wants to scream, _it's not a lie and I'm losing you and I need you and I love you and I can't lose you the way I lost them_.

But Daehyun's looking at him, dark eyes burning with conviction, and Minsoo can't breathe when the room's filled with ghosts of his boyfriend's own making.

(what are they still?)

* * *

They were in love, Minsoo knows.

You get to know these things when you share an apartment with people you've known almost your entire life. 

But they were in love, and it was so _painfully obvious_ to anyone who bothered to look. They were in love, and loved each other more than the others, and Minsoo was so happy for them, until he got the call and saw that Dongho's phone background was the shitty photo they took after graduation, the one where Daehyun's laughing and Minsoo's on Dongho's back and Jaewon's leaning into his side-

Dongho loved Jaewon differently, but he never loved Daehyun and Minsoo any less. 

There's a reason he was the poet, Minsoo bitterly muses, pouring himself another drink.

* * *

He and Daehyun were in love once.

Minsoo's not sure if they still are.

It's difficult - looking at Daehyun and seeing the cracked remnants of the boy who once held his heart in his hands - and it's even harder when little bits of his boyfriend shine through, little times when it's just the two of them and Minsoo can pretend like he hasn't lost everyone he's ever cared about.

But of course, then Daehyun will make a reference to "something Jaewon did" or "Dongho took me to" and Minsoo will laugh, heart tearing in his chest, as the man he loves loses himself to the dead once again.

(in his darkest moments, he wonders if it would've been better if they were the ones that died.)

* * *

**fucking bastard:**  
Minsoo?  
I haven't heard from you in months.  
Are you okay?  
You don't have to respond.  
Just please, let me know you're alive.  
**Read: 4:18am**

* * *

"They told me you're a hallucination," Daehyun very seriously states, and Minsoo doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

**Author's Note:**

> so i've had this idea for a long time, but just never written it
> 
> that's life ig
> 
> ngl cat's fic "my sunshine" is what finally got my off my ass to write this so go read that
> 
> fic title is a quote from watchmen
> 
> [twit](https://twitter.com/i_was_human_) | [lit fic discord!](https://discord.gg/CNunB74)


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